by Ian Gregoire
Without another word, Fay turned on her heels and marched away, heading for the exit. Kayden, likewise, turned around to continue pummelling her wooden substitute for a dunderhead Sanatsai of the Order.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Blatant Disrespect
Kayden woke with the rising sun on Sixthday morning. For several minutes she lay in bed, staring up at the dorm room ceiling while deciding whether or not to forgo her usual morning exercise routine. It was the first day of the weekend and the worst part of the punishment Fay had meted out awaited her. While her fellow apprentices could look forward to a couple of days break from their rigorous training and studies, she would have the dubious pleasure of being Master Briselda’s skivvy—morning to night—for the duration of the weekend. Knowing that the vindictive old bag wouldn’t go easy on her was the determining factor in her decision to skip her workout; it was prudent to save her energy for whatever manual labour was in store. Once her mind was made up she dragged herself out of bed. She needed to pay a visit to the privy to answer the call of nature, followed by a trip to the bathhouse for her morning lavation.
Leaving the bathhouse a good half-hour later, wrapped in a grey cotton bathrobe and a damp towel over her shoulder, Kayden glanced up at the clock tower to see that there were still ten minutes to go before Sixth Hour. She immediately headed back to the women’s dormitory to get dressed for the day ahead. Upon arriving on the second-floor corridor, she was greeted by the sight of Master Briselda standing outside the door to the dorm room. She halted and groaned on the inside before ambling forward once more, hoping against hope that the insufferable woman was waiting for someone else.
“I’m glad to see I don’t have to drag you out of bed this morning,” said Briselda, refusing to stand aside to allow Kayden to enter the dorm room. “Once you are fully clothed and finished with your breakfast, you are to meet me at the south entrance without delay.”
The Sanatsai instructor seemed to derive undue satisfaction from the announcement, thought Kayden. She sighed imperceptibly. It looked like she needed to get under the shorter woman’s skin, just to let her know she wouldn’t have everything her own way.
“As you wish, Master,” she said with insincere cheerfulness. “I look forward to seeing you there… sometime after Ninth Hour.” A mocking smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. The mess hall served breakfast for an extra hour longer at the weekends; she would have a late breakfast and keeping Master Briselda waiting.
“I don’t think so, young lady,” retorted Briselda, nostrils flaring. “The mess hall opens its doors at Sixth Hour, and I’ll give you quarter of an hour to stuff your face then report to me at the south entrance. And if you’re late—” She stopped abruptly, taking a moment to recover her slipping composure. Her thin lips slowly formed a smile that held no warmth. “For the next two days,” she intoned, “I own you, and I’m going to work you hard.”
Kayden glowered. She didn’t doubt for a moment that Master Briselda intended to work her into the ground.
“Ah, you don’t like being put in your place, do you?” taunted Briselda, a triumphant look appearing on her face. “Well, you had better get used to it.” She poked Kayden’s chest with a stiff forefinger. “You have no idea how glad I am that the administrator has finally seen the light. You are not special.” She prodded Kayden’s chest a second time. “No longer will you run roughshod over everyone and everything here at Antaris.” Again she jabbed Kayden with her forefinger. “From this moment on, you will learn to be respectful,”—she poked Kayden a fourth time—“obedient,”—then a fifth time—“and, above all…”
Kayden grabbed hold of Briselda’s wrist as she attempted to poke her yet again. Lowering her head, she glared into the woman’s surprised eyes.
“Master Briselda, just so we are clear,” she uttered in a hushed tone. “If you put your hand on me one more time… You will regret it.”
“Are you threatening me, you little bitch?” blurted the Sanatsai, trying and failing to yank her arm free of Kayden’s grasp.
The sound of a door opening, behind and to her right, prompted Kayden to quickly release Briselda’s wrist. Three distinct voices accompanied a trio of apprentices who had stepped out of their dorm room into the corridor. “I really appreciate that you would come to me, Master Briselda,” said Kayden brightly, speaking in a raised voice. “Of course I will assist you in all your chores around campus this weekend. I’ll report to you at Seventh Hour, on the dot.” She savoured the ambushed look on Briselda’s face as the intruding group of apprentices walked by. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get dressed before I make my way to the mess hall for breakfast.”
Concealing the anger she was no doubt feeling, Briselda stood aside, albeit reluctantly, permitting Kayden to enter her dorm room. Kayden allowed herself a discreet smirk. But her satisfaction at getting the better of the insufferable Sanatsai was tempered by the knowledge that she still had to get through the rest of the weekend.
Shortly after getting dressed, Kayden made her way to the mess hall and sat down to eat alone. She was one of the first of the small number of apprentices present to arrive for breakfast. With it being the weekend most of her fellow apprentices, including her usual dining partners, would remain in bed a while longer and come to the mess hall later on. Even the instructors took advantage of the absence of classes on Sixthday and Seventhday, hence the lack of teaching staff sitting down to eat.
Swallowing another mouthful of scrambled eggs, Kayden took perverse pleasure in taking her time eating. A delay in meeting Master Briselda at the south entrance would, at the very least, mean a reduction in the amount of time spent on menial chores. If she was able to aggravate the woman enough, maybe Briselda could even be provoked into doing something that would need to be reported to the administrator. Surely then, Fay would reconsider the disciplinary action she had taken if it appeared as though Master Briselda was abusing it to pursue a personal vendetta.
Eventually, Kayden had eaten her fill. She remained seated, intending to loiter until the campus clock sounded the arrival of Seventh Hour, but after several minutes she decided to leave the premises before either Neryssa or Yanina arrived. The longer she could conceal the fact she was going to be with Master Briselda for the weekend, the better. As she hurried out of the mess hall she bumped into Sinton—literally. His surprise at seeing her at breakfast so early, and without Neryssa and Yanina, forced her to fob him off on the pretext that she had volunteered her services to Master Briselda, to do various chores around the campus. Despite the sincerity with which she spun her tale, Sinton was not convinced.
“You helping Master Briselda out of the goodness of your heart? That’ll be the day.” The amusement was written all over his brown face. “Master Briselda really seems to dislike you—more than she dislikes everyone else, that is—and I know the antipathy is mutual. You don’t fool me, Kayden. This is about what happened in the communal hall yesterday. You want to prove you’re not getting an easy ride because you’re Master Fay’s favourite, am I right?”
With a silent nod, she was more than happy to allow Sinton to believe he’d hit the proverbial nail on the head. There was nothing to be gained by contradicting him.
“Well, I hope it’s worth it,” he said. “I think it’s safe to assume Master Briselda won’t go easy on you.”
She departed without ceremony, leaving Sinton to enter the mess hall for breakfast while she headed to the south entrance. It came into view once she passed the communal hall, and—as she had become accustomed to seeing over the past few days—there was an increased security presence there. A dozen Sanatsai were on sentry duty, and standing halfway between herself and them was Master Briselda. The middle-aged woman did not appear happy, though the expression she wore shifted as soon as their eyes met: a self-satisfied smile slowly curled her lips.
Oh, great! Here we go, thought Kayden as she approached.
Halting in front of Briselda, she stood to attention. “Here I
am, Master,” she said. “Ten minutes earlier than promised.” Over the woman’s shoulder she noticed several horse-drawn wagons waiting outside campus grounds.
The prickly Sanatsai turned around, saying, “Follow me.” She led Kayden off campus, via the open south entrance, and stopped alongside the first of the thirteen stationary wagons. “We’ve just received a delivery of foodstuff from Timaris,” she announced. “You will unload the carts and carry everything to the food store, making sure nothing is missing from our order as you put the goods away.” Pulling out a wad of parchment paper from a pocket, Briselda smiled as she unfolded the sheets and held them out to Kayden. “Here is the full inventory.”
Kayden took the papers. “Fine!” She stepped away, heading back towards the south entrance.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Briselda’s raised voice stopped Kayden in her tracks. She turned around to face the annoying woman. “I’m going to wait outside the storage building for the first cart to pull up,” she said, affecting a tone that also said, where else would I be going, you insufferable woman?
“I don’t think so!” countered Briselda, eyes blazing with malice. “The carts will stay right here, and you will unload them here and carry everything to the food store.”
Eyes widening, Kayden said, “But the drivers are supposed draw their carts up outside whichever storage building their deliveries are intended for.”
“Usually, yes.” A vindictive smirk tugged the corner of Briselda’s lips. “They’re also supposed to unload their cargo. Today, however, you’ll be sparing them the effort.”
Taking a deep breath to subdue her growing ire, Kayden scanned the content of the waiting wagons. The assorted sacks, crates, and barrels were obviously heavy; it would be backbreaking work to manually unload all thirteen carts by herself. But she wasn’t going to give Master Briselda the satisfaction of complaining, or asking for assistance.
“No problem, Master,” she chirped pleasantly, an insincere smile upon her face. She thrust out her free hand, invoking Yuksaydan to lift a crate from the back of the nearest cart.
“Uh, uh, uh!” snapped Briselda. “No Zarantar. You will unload the delivery by hand, and carry everything to the food store.”
“But the that could take hours! Especially if I’m expected to do an inventory.”
“You have until the clock tower chimes for Ninth Hour, so that’s a little over two hours.”
“But—”
“But nothing! You’ll do as you’re told, and do it on time. And I’m going to make sure the sentries over there keep an eye on you when I leave, so don’t get any ideas about disobeying my instructions once my back is turned.” Briselda took a nonchalant step towards Kayden, gazing up at her with a triumphant smile on her face. “And just so we are clear, young lady,” she crooned, sounding uncharacteristically happy, “the administrator has asked me to inform her if you are uncooperative in any way today. I hope it goes without saying that nothing would give me greater pleasure than to tell her you’ve been a royal pain in my behind, even if I have to make it up.” The smile vanished abruptly from her face, then she added harshly, “So don’t tempt me!”
Kayden bit her tongue, refusing to be provoked. She had little option but to get on with the task at hand. The punishment Fay had imposed would be lifted at the end of next week, with the beginning of the autumn holiday. It would be foolish to risk further sanction just to get the better of Master Briselda. Let the stupid woman have her petty fun; it would be brief anyway.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me Master,” she said. “As much as I would love to stand around, conversing with you about frivolous things, some of us actually have work to do.” Kayden stepped away to clamber up onto the back of the closest cart. Before beginning the arduous task of unloading the contents of the delivery, she watched Briselda walk back onto campus grounds through the south entrance, stopping long enough to have words with one of the sentries—presumably to instruct him to keep an eye on the apprentice.
No stranger to hard work, Kayden found herself enjoying the physical exertions of her morning chore. Though her undergarments were soon drenched beneath her uniform, the fine weather made for a pleasant day of manual labour. By the time Master Briselda returned to check up on her, and subsequently sour her mood, the clock had already sounded the arrival of Ninth Hour, and only two of the thirteen horse-drawn wagons remained at the south entrance. Kayden was inside the food store, checking the inventory for the contents of the eleventh cart and Briselda chastised her for not having finished the job on time.
Holding her tongue, Kayden did her best to ignore the woman’s petty rant. Finally, Briselda informed her that once the last two carts were unloaded and the inventory completed, Kayden should go to the administration building to receive her second task of the day. With that, she left the storage building, leaving Kayden to resume her work wondering how much more provocation she could endure before Fay was forced to come to Master Briselda’s rescue.
A half-hour later she had completed her task and the only discrepancies with the inventory were three missing pears from the crate of a hundred, and the inclusion of seventy-five lemons that weren’t on the list.
Job done, Kayden headed immediately to the administration building to find Master Briselda. The crotchety Sanatsai was waiting for her in the lobby and took great pleasure in announcing that the grounds staff had been given the morning off, before handing over an empty bucket, a hard-bristled scrubber and a cake of soap. Kayden was promptly led back out of the building, and followed Briselda to the women’s outhouse. Before entering the privy she was made to fill the bucket with water from the manual pump outside.
“Between now and lunchtime you are on sanitation duty,” said Briselda. “First you will thoroughly clean the privy, then replace the incense sticks.” She pointed at the burnt out remains of two clusters of used sticks held in wall-mounted brackets on opposite sides of the outhouse. “You’ll find the incense sticks in the storage building adjacent to the armoury.” Gesturing with an arm, she added, “I want this place spotless and smelling as fresh a summer’s day before you go next door to clean the bathhouse.”
“Fine,” replied Kayden, without enthusiasm. “But why do I have to use this scrubber?” She held up the hard-bristled scrubbing brush. “It would be quicker if I could use a mop.”
“Because I want you down on your hands and knees where you belong, you spoilt brat!” barked Briselda. “And I’ll be standing right here, watching, so don’t get any ideas about using Zarantar to complete the task.” The look on her face betrayed how much satisfaction she would derive from doing so. “Now get to work! And make sure you boil that water first.”
Kayden gently set the bucket down on the floor at her feet; she didn’t trust herself not to pour its contents over the insufferable woman’s head. “How exactly do you expect me to boil the water if I can’t use Zarantar?”
“Obviously you can do so for that!” snapped Briselda. “Do I have to think of everything for you, you brainless, good-for-nothing twerp?”
Inside her boots, Kayden’s toes clenched, and her grip on the scrubber in her hand tightened. She took a deep breath, and let it out again. Don’t let the bitter old bag provoke you, Kayden, she urged herself. You know she’s just trying to get you into more trouble with Master Fay. Nothing would be lost by ignoring the provocation. Even with a scrubbing brush, cleaning the women’s outhouse and bathhouse would take no more than an hour, at most. Midday was still over two hours away. If Briselda thought the task would keep her busy until lunchtime, the stupid woman was going to be disappointed.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” said Briselda, intruding upon Kayden’s thoughts. “Do you think you’re above scrubbing floors?”
With a sigh, Kayden replied, “No, Master. But cleaning the women’s privy and bathhouse is about an hour’s work. You said I was on sanitation duty until lunchtime; I’ll be finished long before Twelfth Hour.”
The wry smile that tugged the corners of Briselda’s mouth didn’t bode well, Kayden realised. The shift in expression had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
“I guess I didn’t make myself clear,” said the Sanatsai. “The men’s outhouse and bathhouse aren’t going to clean themselves, and I think you’ll find that making their privy smell decent rather more time-consuming than you imagine.”
Kayden couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The prospect of cleaning the men’s privy was bad enough, but entering their bathhouse while it was possibly still in use was out of the question.
“Not so smug now, are you, young lady?” Briselda’s smile was conspicuous in its mockery. “What’s the problem this time?”
“It’s the weekend. Even at this time there may still be people going in and out of the men’s bathhouse while I’m in there.”
“So what?” intoned Briselda in a deceptively gentle manner. “I think we both know you won’t see anything you haven’t already seen numerous times before.”
Dropping the scrubber into the bucket of soapy water, Kayden pursed her lips as she glared wide-eyed at Briselda. The sheer audacity of the woman to stand before her and effectively call her a whore to her face was an insult too far. “As much as you might want to stay here and watch me while I work,” said Kayden through gritted teeth, “I strongly advise against it.” She took a threatening step towards the shorter, older woman. “You might have an accident. And with no witnesses present to contradict my version of events, I can make up any story I like about what happened to you.”
Briselda’s tanned face visibly blanched, and Kayden saw apprehension in the woman’s eyes. But it was fleeting. Regaining some of her composure, Briselda said, meekly, “I have better things to do with my time than watch you scrub floors.” Backing away towards the exit, she added, “I’ll have one of the roving sentries check in on you every quarter-hour to make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. At the end of the lunch hour find me in the administration building, I’ll have more chores for you.”
